Blue Volleyball Falls to Vassar, 3-1

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley volleyball fell to Vassar College, 3-1, on Saturday at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse. The Blue got off to a fast start, taking the first game 25-15, but the Brewers grabbed the next three, 25-18, 25-20, 25-19. Wellesley drops to 11-8 for the season. Vassar moves to 15-7.

Devan Gallagher (San Francisco, Calif.) and Jane McLeod (New York, N.Y.) led the Brewer attack, hammering 17 and 15 kills, respectively. McLeod also anchored the visitors defense with 16 digs, followed closely by Sierra Tobin (Santa Cruz, Calif.) with 15. Setter Annie Macmillan captained the offense, distributing 40 assists in the win.

For the Blue, Ashley Peng (San Diego, Calif.) led the attack with 11 kills. Kennedy Ulfig (Saline, Mich.) tallied nine kills and Meghan Shoop (Cypress, Calif.) added eight. Libero Samantha Hoang (Elk Grove, Calif.) led all players with 28 digs, while Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) dished out 33 assists in the loss.

The Blue were out of the gate quickly in set one, grabbing a 6-1 lead highlighted by kills from Peng and Alex Kew (Winchester, Mass.). The Brewers clawed back to a 9-9 tie, capitalizing on three kills from Gallagher and a couple Wellesley miscues. But the Blue broke the game open, using long serving runs from Maddie Koh (Seattle, Wash.) and Hoang in route to the 25-15 win. 

After trading points early in set two, Vassar found its rhythm, edging to a 13-6 advantage on swings from Gallagher, McLeod, and Alex Sams (Beverly Hill, Calif.). The Blue narrowed the lead 15-12 with two kills from Peng, but could get no closer as Vassar cruised to a 25-18 win.

Game three was a back-and-forth affair until two Wellesley errors gave the visitors an 18-14 edge. Wellesley responded with another Peng kill and a stuff block from Kew and Li to trim the lead to 19-18, but the Brewers answered with two more kills from McLeod and one from Gallagher to snag the 25-20 victory.

Wellesley started game four by grabbing a 6-1 advantage before McLeod led another Vassar comeback to tie the game at 8-8. The squads traded points through the middle of the game, then a brief serving run from Vassar's Bria Corham (Kansas City, Mo.) opened an 18-13 lead for the visitors. The Blue scored four straight points to cut the lead to one, but the Brewers capitalized on four Blue errors late in the game to seal the match with a 25-19 win.

Wellesley returns to action Tuesday at 7pm, when they travel to Clark University for a key conference match-up. Vassar will take the court next on Thursday, October 13, when they host The Sage Colleges in a 7pm match.